Another rare warbird sees the light of day in a museum!
On 21 Jan 2012, the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force unveiled the sole known surviving example of an IMAM Ro.37bis, a 1930s vintage observation and reconnaissance aircraft employed in the war against the Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War and WWII. It is to be displayed at the Italian Air Force Museum at Vigna di Valle, near Rome. In Sep 1937 the Afghan Air Force purchased 16 Ro.37bis, which were employed until the end of the 1940s. Remarkably, in 2005 the remains of 6 Ro.37bis and 3 engines, abandoned and forgotten for decades, were rediscovered at Kabul International Airport by ISAF. In Sep 2006, the wrecks was transferred in Italy by the Italian Air Force. A single 'composite' aircraft was reconstructed from the wrecks, which were in very poor condition. The livery chosen is those of a Italian Regia Aeronautica Ro.37bis employed in Italian East Africa in the late 1930s by the 110th Squadriglia. (With thanks to Victor Sierra for the original article and photograph.)
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